In any White House, discretion is a prized value in staffers, and perhaps even more so in the Donald Trump era. As Trump’s personal assistant in the Oval Office, Madeleine Westerhout should have known that better than most. Yet Westerhout has been shown the door, as multiple news organizations reported overnight, for sharing personal information about the First Family with reporters:

President Trump’s personal assistant Madeleine Westerhout resigned from her job abruptly, a White House official and another person familiar with the situation told NBC News late Thursday night.

One of the sources said that Westerhout left the job because she shared personal information about the president’s family and Oval Office operations at an off-the-record dinner with reporters earlier this month in Bedminster, N.J., where a Trump-owned golf club that the president often visits in summer months is located.

All of the outlets reporting this departure call it a resignation, but they all also strongly suggest that the resignation came under considerable duress. The New York Times first reported it and noted that the sequence of events started when Trump found out she was leaking information to reporters, and that she’s already persona non grata anywhere in the White House. Needless to say, that’s not a departure on mutually agreeable terms.

The Times’ Annie Karni and Maggie Haberman also take note of Westerhout’s political pedigree:

“Ms. Westerhout, a former Republican National Committee aide who also worked for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, reportedly cried on election night because she was upset over Mr. Trump’s victory. As such, the president at first viewed her warily, as a late convert to his cause who could not be trusted.”

(snip)

Ms. Westerhout’s power in the White House came almost entirely from proximity. She is not a name-brand White House aide and has never appeared on television, unless it was an accidental shot of her hovering behind her boss. But while she was not a decision maker, she enjoyed unique access to Mr. Trump.

Trump tends to be a little paranoid about working with other Republicans, but in this case his first instinct might have been correct. Karni and Haberman hint at Westerhout’s state of mind in the last paragraph of the above excerpt. Politico later reported that Westerhout was attempting a little empire-building in the White House, which might have led to a slap-down or two from more senior officials:

“In the past six months, Westerhout had tried to expand the boundaries of her job to encompass a broader set of tasks and to include foreign travel, said one adviser close to the White House, who suggested Westerhout had tried to act like a de facto chief of staff. This irked several White House officials and Cabinet secretaries who thought she should stick to her primary task of serving as the president’s personal secretary with a desk just outside the Oval Office. …”

(snip)

The close White House adviser called this “the final straw” for someone who did not have many allies left in the building.

Under those circumstances, one has to wonder whether Westerhout got set up by rivals within the White House. That’s the kind of games that get played when low-level staffers try acquiring power at the expense of others with better connections. It’s just as likely, if not more so, that a lack of success led Westerhout to lose her sense of discretion and/or attempt to gain more power by manipulating the press against her real and perceived rivals.

At least, those are the fun explanations. If this turns out to be just the mundane circumstance of a secretary with trouble keeping her mouth shut after having a couple of drinks, it’ll be a disappointment. Even so, Westerhout’s exit will serve as a warning to others to keep their mouths shut whatever the circumstance might be.

Amid numerous political scandals and an unfurling trade war with China that shows little sign of de-escalation, President Donald Trump lacks the broad confidence of the American public, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

Sixty-two percent of U.S. adults disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job, compared with 36 percent who approve. Predictably, the partisan divides swing favorably or unfavorably towards the president depending on political affiliation. But, notably, the coveted class of self-identified political independents remains opposed to the president, with 65 percent disapproving of the way he is handling his job.

Trump’s approval ratings have not been this low in the monthly AP-NORC survey since January.

While many of the conflicts and controversies that have emerged in recent months pertain to the trade war and Trump’s management of the economy — including a warning sign that a recession may be on the horizon due to a metric known as the inverted yield curve — the public has not been scared off by the president’s economic stewardship. Fifty-one percent disapprove of his handling of the economy, and 46 percent approve. Though this is a net negative rating, it indicates the public is largely divided on the matter, and represents Trump’s highest job approval rating for any category measured in the AP-NORC poll.

*************************

Please don’t be one of those Freepers who replies: “Why post this?”I posted it because we need to know what’s out there, even if it is from the far left propaganda media.

Twitter locked accounts belonging to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s and several prominent conservatives Monday, after they posted videos of left-wing protesters gathered outside McConnell’s Kentucky home — with one demonstrator calling for someone to stab McConnell “in the heart” and for McConnell to break his “raggedy” neck.

The episode prompted the McConnell campaign, known as “Team Mitch,” to slam Twitter for political bias, saying the social media platform had effectively blamed the victim.

Meanwhile, observers noted, Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro remains active on Twitter, even after he posted the names of San Antonio residents who donated to Trump.

“This morning, Twitter locked our account for posting the video of real-world, violent threats made against Mitch McConnell,” McConnell campaign manager Kevin Golden said in a statement. “This is the problem with the speech police in America today.”

McConnell, 77, has been resting at home since tripping on his patio fracturing his shoulder on Sunday — and the Team Mitch account posted images showing him at his residence.

In the wake of this weekend’s deadly mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, the hashtag “Massacre Mitch” trended on Twitter — and some activists took their case to McConnell’s residence.

I don’t do Twitter, but it seems there could be a conservative-run alternative to Twitter. Why hasn’t some conservative group been working on this? Why is Twitter being allowed to control and humiliate conservative members?

Why isn’t there one total conservative TV station owned or funded by rich conservatives?

For now. I guarantee they are going to ban him for his “racism” before the campaign gets going next year.

When it comes to Trump, they are in a pickle. If they deplatform him, his campaign will start an alternative to Twitter and every last one of his millions of followers will auto-deplatform and join the new-start.

Works for me – but – what to call this startup alternative?
Twatter?
Trumpter?
Trump University? (I hear that one’s available)

Das Sturmer?

Doing that would be the beginning of the end of monopoly social media. Hopefully, they’re stupid enough to do it.

They’re still flooding into USA too. It’s long past time to repatriate the Muslims to their own wonderful peaceful civilized krapistans.

11 posted on 7/29/2019, 2:11:20 PM by faithhopecharity ( Â“Politicians are not born; they are excreted.Â” Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 to 43 BCE))

To: Kevin in California

And………..it’s a moslem.

Again.

He killed an 8 year old.

12 posted on 7/29/2019, 2:11:27 PM by combat_boots (God bless Israel and all who protect and defend her! Merry Christmas! In God We Trust!)

To: Kevin in California

So was this guy a Muslim or not?

That’s the only thing that matters.

21 posted on 7/29/2019, 2:21:20 PM by Neanderthal (As you import the third world, you become the third world)

The only. Thing. That. Matters.

To: Kevin in California

Islamic imagery?

Well, that’s that!

Round up ALL the muzzies in the country and deport them.

Every last one of them.

If every gun in America is a potential mass murderer, and is guilty of all the shootings across the nation, then every last muslim in the country is responsible for the murders and terrorism of this terrorist.

At first glance, there was nothing unusual about President Trump’s introduction Tuesday at Turning Point USA’s student summit. In many ways, it mirrored the production style that has become synonymous with Trump’s campaign rallies.

Following a 12-minute video illustrating Trump’s rise to the presidency, music blared as the president’s name flashed across a giant screen in a bold shade of red. Trump took the stage and soaked in the raucous cheers from hundreds of young supporters packed inside the Marriott Marquis in Washington.

Charlie Kirk, Turning Point’s outspoken founder and executive director, was on his left. But the image on the screen to Trump’s right — captured in dozens of photos and videos from the event — is less familiar.

The image almost resembles the official seal of the president; but a closer examination reveals alterations that seem to poke fun at the president’s golfing penchant and accusations that he has ties to Russia. Neither the White House nor Turning Point know how it got there or who created it.

Usually, the Freeperati react to this kind of thing (mockery) with threats to kill the mocker.

Right?

To: DoodleDawg

Someone went through some effort, can’t believe that it’s not easy to find out who as that’s the kind of thing that’s usually shared on social media.

The Russian double headed eagle and holding golf clubs in one talon. I assume that the president’s advance team has learned a lesson that should have been learned about 3 years ago – control all the digital displays while POTUS is in the room.

As far as pranks go, pretty harmless. Yuck it up and move on.

4 posted on 7/25/2019, 5:49:13 AM by kingu (Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)

To: Albion Wilde

Gotta admit it … that’s pretty clever and well executed.

6 posted on 7/25/2019, 5:49:49 AM by al_c (Democrats: Party over Common Sense)

Supporters at President Trump’s campaign rally on Wednesday chanted “send her back” about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) after the president launched into a diatribe against the first-term lawmaker and Somali refugee.

Trump tore into Omar early on in his rally in Greenville, North Carolina, a continuation of his days-long attacks against her and three other progressive congresswomen. The crowd raucously booed Omar at the first mention of her name.

The president went on to accuse Omar of demeaning U.S. servicemembers and minimizing the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“She looks down with contempt on the hard-working Americans saying that ignorance is pervasive in many parts of this country,” Trump said.

The crowd then broke into a chant of “Send her back” in reference to Omar, who came to the U.S. as a Somalian refugee as a teenager.

The president has in recent days targeted Omar and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), claiming the lawmakers “hate our country” and suggested they should leave rather than complain about the government.

He sparked an uproar on Sunday morning when he tweeted that progressive congresswomen “who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe” should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

@rising_serpent
Such is the power of Trump’s ability to change the narrative, he single-handedly made the MSM give the toxic quadruplets more airtime than the entire Democrat presidential clown car combined.
Right now Democrats are wringing their hands in impotent despaircelebrating, at knowing theyTrump just torpedoed the GOP and lost 2020.

President Donald Trump claimed Thursday he “was not happy” with the crowd at his campaign rally for chanting “send her back,” after he had goaded the North Carolina audience with a fiery attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar.

“I was not happy with it. I disagree with it. But again, I didn’t say that. They did. But I disagree with it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding that he “started speaking very quickly” in an attempt to silence the rally attendees.

Prior to the audience at Greenville’s East Carolina University breaking into their chant Wednesday night, the president tore into Omar, mischaracterizing past controversial statements by the Minnesota Democrat related to the 9/11 terror attacks and Al Qaeda that conservatives have seized upon in recent months.

Just before the incendiary refrain broke out, Trump accused Omar of having “a history of launching vicious, anti-Semitic screeds,” and then silently gazed out over the crowd for roughly 15 seconds until the cheers of “send her back” abated.

“It was quite a chant, and I felt a little bit badly about it,” Trump said on Thursday, later hailing the number of supporters inside the “packed arena” and boasting of the “tremendous support” and “great energy” enjoyed by the Republican Party.

“I say there is far more energy on the right than there is on the left,” he said, adding, “I think we have far more support than they do and I think we have far more energy than they do. And we’re going to have a very interesting election. But I was not happy when I heard that chant.”

A government official confirmed that Trump is expected to announce he will drop the legal battle to include the question on the census survey and instead direct the Commerce Department to obtain answers on citizenship through other means, but it was not clear how that would occur or how it would be funded.

The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the Commerce Department. The U.S. Constitution specifically assigns the job of overseeing the census to Congress, limiting the authority of the president over it, which complicates adding the question to the decennial survey via presidential missive.

Trump’s decision not to proceed with an executive order on adding the citizenship question to the census was first reported by ABC News.

I guess I was confused about what this was. I thought it was going to be a parade with the equipment rolling by and so forth. According to sources on the internet, the attendees could not get near the tanks. Many people complained they never saw a tank.

Doesn’t make sense.

334 posted on 7/4/2019, 8:05:36 PM by Vaden (First they came for the Confederates… Next they came for Washington… Then they came…)

.

Tanks for nothin’.

.

The Darnold wanted a parade train of hundreds of tanks, Moscow / Beijing / Pyongyang style, and what did he get?

.

Two tanks, (no, a Bradley is not a fucking tank) parked immobile on concrete pads, so far away you needed binoculars to see them.TWO!

President Trump announced Saturday that a planned mass roundup of illegal immigrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is being delayed for two weeks, in the hope that a bipartisan solution to the border crisis can be reached.

“At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border,” he tweeted.

I had guessed that his announcement of imminent roundups was a negotiating ploy with Congress. I am waiting to see what comes from his apparent vacillation on the Iran drone shootdown. He did NOT just “back down.”Something is in the works.

No, reasonable would have been acting on his campaign promises on this issue from the start. Not naming three consecutive anti-Trumpers to run DHS against all his stated immigration goals. Declaring the emergency we have and doing what’s needed with his executive powers from the start. Not sticking his feckless, Manhattan Democrat SIL in to give still more to the Dems on the issue this winter. Etc. Etc.

All right, everyone – as I mentioned, last week’s Obsession wasn’t doable due to days of lightning storms here in Dallas, so please allow me to serve up some older Freepitude, meant for the post that never was.

The pro-mass immigration Koch brothers’ network of billionaire, donor-class organizations is readying to financially back Democrats, so long as they promise to support amnesty for illegal aliens and vote to advance free trade at all costs.

In a memo to its staff, the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP) organization announced that the economic libertarian group is set to back any elected official in Washington, DC, — including Democrats — who support their agenda of amnesty for illegal aliens and endless free trade, and oppose the GOP voter-preferred economic nationalist agenda of less immigration and tariffs to protect American jobs.

The memo read:

The threat of being primaried prevents policymakers from leading on difficult issues and driving principled policy reforms. AFP or AFP Action will be ready to engage contested U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and state-level primary races, including Republican, Democrat, Independent or otherwise, to support sitting legislators who lead by uniting with others to pass principled policy and get good things done. [Emphasis added]

The Koch effort to financially support pro-amnesty, anti-economic nationalist Democrats would come to fruition through the creation of multiple issue-specific Political Action Committees (PACs), all under the larger Koch network umbrella.

Support for free trade absolutism, amnesty for illegal aliens, and an anti-economic nationalist voting record are basic requirements for Democrats and Republicans who want financial support from the Koch brothers, as outlined in AFP’s memo:

(snip)

The initiative is set to put the Koch brothers’ network of donor class organizations in line with Democrats such as Joe Biden — who has backed amnesty for all illegal aliens and continues to support the NAFTA free trade deal that eliminated nearly five million American jobs — and Republicans such as Justin Amash who opposes the use of tariffs and has previously suggested support for an amnesty for illegal aliens shielded from deportation by President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The far left has latched onto the “Koch Brothers” as a boogieman. It’s kind of funny. The vast majority (and I mean vast) have never even heard the name much less know anything about them. And yet this seems to be their go to topic this year. It just makes them look paranoid. I hope they stay focused like a laser beam on this…

On June 10th, the United States will impose a 5% Tariff on all goods coming into our Country from Mexico, until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP. The Tariff will gradually increase until the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied,..

….at which time the Tariffs will be removed. Details from the White House to follow.

I think he is getting a little wild with tariffs. He is going to shock the economy. Too much too fast never goes well.

84 posted on 5/30/2019, 7:37:39 PM by Sequoyah101 (It feels like we have exchanged our dreams for survival. We just hava few days that don’t suck.)

(skipping about a hundred posts about how only avocados and tequila are going to get more expensive)

One Freeper points out the obvious.

To: MeganC

You do realize that Mexico actually won’t pay he tariffs, right? China doesn’t pay the tariffs either. The American businesses that import the goods actually pay the tariffs. That’s how a tariff works. It’s not like a Mexican truck full of avocados is now going to get charged a 5% tax at the border. The importer pays that when it gets delivered and hen they pass that on to the store and they pass that on to you.

Documentation dykes bursting everywhere, and that wonderful “meeting” to discuss infrastructure bills blew up in his face like an exploding cigar. This nincompoop still thinks he’s doing “The Apprentice”, and that’s a full-speed-ahead-in-the-ice-field approach for certain, at least when dealing with Nancy Pelosi.

Now I don’t know if this is just a southern / Texas thing, but when somebody really screws the pooch, they get a condescending “Well, bless your heart.” The unsaid coda to this little expression is “You’re too stupid to breathe, aren’t ya, darlin’ ?”

Thursday at her weekly press briefing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told reporters she is concerned for the well-being of President Donald Trump. Pelosi said, “We don’t want it to be partisan now, but I can only think he wasn’t up to the task of figuring out the difficult choices of how to cover the cost of infrastructure legislation that we had talked about. The president again stormed out. First pound the table, walk out the door. Next time, have the TV cameras in there while I have my say and that didn’t work for him either. And this time, another temper tantrum. Again I pray for the president of the United States. I wish his family, his administration or his staff would have an intervention for the good of the country.” A reporter said, “Your prayer comments almost suggest you are concerned for his well being.” Pelosi interjected, “I am, and the well-being of the United States of America.”

FULL TITLE: Conservative televangelist Pat Robertson says Alabama abortion law is ‘extreme’ and he believes the state ‘has gone too far’

Christian televangelist Pat Robertson has said that he believes Alabama’s near total ban on abortions is ‘extreme’ and that the state has gone ‘too far’.

Robertson, who opposes abortion and hopes to see Roe v Wade overturned, made the remarks on Wednesday on The 700 Club, hours before Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed the new law.

The Alabama law contains an exception for when the pregnancy creates a serious health risk for the woman, but not an exception for rape or incest, and would punish doctors who perform abortions with up to life in prison.

‘It’s an extreme law, and they want to challenge Roe verses Wade, but my humble view is that this is not the case that we want to bring to the Supreme Court, because I think this one will lose,’ the conservative minister continued.

Robertson has been an outspoken opponent of abortion, and drew condemnation when he implied in 2005 that Hurricane Katrina’s destruction of New Orleans was God’s punishment for America’s abortion laws.

But in Wednesday’s broadcast Robertson said he feared that Alabama’s new law would not create the right test case to challenge the 1973 precedent of Roe v Wade.

‘It’s ill-considered,’ he said. ‘The Alabama case, god bless ’em they’re trying to do something, but I don’t think that’s the case that I’d want to bring to the Supreme Court.’

Governor Ivey signed the measure on Wednesday. The law will make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by 10 to 99 years or life in prison.

I think you want to pass the most restrictive law that might be upheld before the Supreme Court. This one is so politically risky that it could lead to serious election losses in 2020. If we could roll back the 19th Amendment, this wouldn’t be a problem. Thing is – women can vote, and they tend to vote against politicians who want to ban abortion.

7 posted on 5/16/2019, 3:06:23 AM by Zhang Fei (My dad had a Delta 88. That was a car. It was like driving your living room.)

The Trump administration is hiking duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese products to 25% from 10%… Industries and businesses affected by the tariff hike will not feel the effect right away: it will apply to goods exported after May 10, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. It will not affect products already in transit to the United States. Trump has prepared to put even more pressure on China as he pushes for an agreement. The president has threatened to slap 25% tariffs on $325 billion in Chinese goods that remain untaxed.

*************

This is going to rip whole industries out of China, if they don’t make a deal – but they may just not be able to.

Nah – they’ll just subsidize any affected industries with state resources, just like they always have. They can probably only afford to do this for 15-20 years, though.

This is a big deal, and Chinese markets should take it hard on the chin when they open.

While a agree with Trumps actions here. It is going to be painful for our 401k accounts. I’ve lost 25% of the gains I have made this year already this week. I have painful memories of being up 11% in October of 2018 only to be down 1% for the year in December. I hope that does not happen again. Then again, I don’t need to access my 401k until about 2023. So should be recovered by then, provided we don’t elect another obama.

Aren’t you glad there’s so many professional economists posting on Free Republic?

To: BeauBo

China says they will retaliate – but there is not $200 billion of US imports remaining to them to raise tariffs on. This round is the end of equivalent tit for tat exchanges of tariffs.China is running out of ammo. The next (final) round, if imposed, would be largely one sided, and would likely send Chineseour markets into crisis, theirour economy into recession, and risk a debt and/or asset bubble and/or currency crisis.

FIFY.

I’d guess this round will be triggering some stops on Chinese stock markets tomorrow. Much of the industry getting these tariffs will simply be leaving China, if the tariffs stay in place.

OK – you good people know I’m a memehead, and since The Darnold’s complete and utter failure “negotiating” with Kim Jong Un has just borne even more bitter fruit – I hereby present a “Obsession” post composed entirely of memes.

Basically leading with short dispatches saying the North Koreans did this at around 0906 am local Saturday (8:06 pm eastern USA) in Korea/Japan, about 90 minutes ago, into the Sea of Japan, traveling 70 to 200 kilometers from a launch site near Wonsan on DPRK east coast.

********

As we have said about these people from day one. Untrustworthy. Brigands. Incorrigible. Irredeemable. Worthy of neither praise nor friendship.

I do not trust anyone fully. And I verify and reality check everyone. I don’t care which party or president. While largely a Democrat Party tool, appeasement and cajoling of threatening dictators has not been the sole exclusive 200% territory of the Donks. Just wait and see. Will soon see if it’s tighter strangling sanctions, boarding of illicit Mirth Korean smuggling craft on the high seas, or more “love letters.”

OK, people – a few hundred dollars worth of hardware and labour and the loss of my Windows 7 Professional software later, I’m back online and ready to rock.

Only one subject this morning – Hail Satin!!

IRS recognizes Satanic Temple as ‘church’, grants tax-exempt status

April 26, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has formally recognized the Satanic Temple as a church, according to a celebratory announcement by the organization and as confirmed by the Associated Press.

On Thursday, the Satanic Temple announced on Instagram that “for the very [first] time in history, a satanic organization has been recognized by the United States federal government as being a church.” The IRS website confirms that the Satanic Temple is now a tax-exempt organization “eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions,” but gives no further details on its status beyond being a “public charity.”

The AP, however, reports that it received a copy of the notice, which classifies the Satanic Temple as a “church or a convention or association of churches.”

The IRS’s decision comes despite the Satanic Temple’s own website all-but acknowledging it isn’t a religion in the traditional sense. The group’s FAQ page explains that it doesn’t believe Satan or other supernatural concepts literally exist, but embraces Satan’s name as a “symbol of the Eternal Rebel in opposition to arbitrary authority.”

It claims to qualify as a religion because it has “deeply held beliefs that we actively advocate,” a “narrative structure by which we contextualize our lives and works,” and a set of symbols and practices that give a “sense of identity, culture, community, and shared values” – a definition of “religion” that could encompass any number of ideological, political, or cultural groupings not traditionally considered to be religions.

“IRS regulations draw a clear distinction between ‘churches’ and other religious organizations,” Catholic News Agencyadds. “A church must have certain characteristics, according to IRS requirements, including: a recognized creed and form of worship; distinct ecclesiastical government; formal code of doctrine; ordained ministers selected after completing prescribed courses of study; established places of worship and regular religious services.”

Rolling Stonenotes that the Satanic Temple itself has rejected tax-exempt status in the past, but reversed its position in 2017. Temple president Lucien Greaves made the change in protest of President Donald Trump’s moves to protect religious liberty, which Greaves claimed was turning religious groups into a “privileged class” from which Satanists should benefit as well.

“This acknowledgment will help make sure The Satanic Temple has the same access to public spaces as other religious organizations, affirm our standing in court when battling religious discrimination, and enable us to apply for faith-based government grants,” the Temple’s announcement added, meaning the new status is likely to bolster its legal claims in cases such as its placing of Satanic statues in the state capitals of Arkansas and Illinois.

The Daily Callernotes that the new status is “redundant” on the matter of grants, as there currently aren’t any federal grants exclusively available to faith-based groups, and faith-based and secular groups are equally free to compete for grants.

American voters were concerned about an economic downturn in a Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service poll that found 58 percent of voters approve of the president’s performance when it comes to the economy.

Registered and likely 2020 voters from both sides of the Republican-Democrat aisle were surveyed in the “Battleground Poll” from March 31-April 4 that reached 1,000, according to NBC News.

Of those, 59 percent expressed concern about the possibility of an economic decline. However, 58 percent approve of the job President Donald Trump is doing when it comes to the economy. The report noted that the president has been relatively consistent at a 55 percent overall job approval rating.

A whopping 82 percent of those surveyed said they are “extremely” likely to vote, according to the report.

As to the question of whether the country is going in the right direction, 74 percent of Republicans said yes it is while 92 percent of Democrats said no.

Texas’s Republican House Speaker on Friday moved to drop the state’s “constitutional carry” legislation after a gun rights activist showed up at his home to push for the bill. Dennis Bonnen said the bill was “dead” after Chris McNutt, the executive director of Texas Gun Rights, appeared at his home to advocate for the controversial legislation that would allow Texans to carry firearms without a license, The Dallas Morning News reported. McNutt, according to the outlet, drove 50 miles south of Houston last Wednesday before turning up at Bonnen’s house to question why the legislation wasn’t moving forward faster. The paper reported that McNutt had posted rants on Facebook about the lack of movement on the bill prior to driving to Bonnen’s house.

Today’s decision increases the H-2B cap by “only” 30,000, rather than the full 67,000 Congress authorized, but this surge nonetheless increases the cap to 96,000. Not even under President Obama did H-2B visas rise to such high levels….President Trump continues to increase the number of H-2B guestworkers every time he has the opportunity. This is entirely his own administration’s fault. He could, at any time, direct Secretary Nielsen to not increase the cap.

H1B is for techs and is a far more concerning program, given that they’ve completely nuked the wage scale in what is arguably our single most important industry today, and flooded it with foreigners who have no loyalty to the USA.

20 posted on 3/29/2019, 4:50:15 PM by thoughtomator (The Clinton Coup attempt was a worse attack on the USA than was 9/11)

To: King Moonracer

These aren’t Asian tech workers, they are the temporary workers that stuff Trump’s clubs and pick the grapes in the Trump family vineyard during peak season.

And yes, if they paid enough they’d have plenty of Americans to do the work. Even if college kids who could work their studies around the schedule. (Much of it is summer or fall labor.)